论功能对等理论在中餐菜单翻译中的适用性

菜单

Abstract With the rapid development of Chinese economy and increasingly frequent communication between nations, more and more foreigners come to China to experience Chinese culture and enjoy the delicious Chinese cuisine. In these circumstances the government published Chinese Menu in English Version as standardized translation of Chinese menu for the foreigners who will come to China to understand Chinese cuisine better. This thesis presents a critical approach to the use of functional equivalence theory in translating those Chinese dishes listed in the Menu from the cross-cultural perspective and after examining a lot of examples from the Menu, concludes that functional equivalence theory is not entirely suitable in the translation of Chinese cuisine for some Chinese characteristics inherent in Chinese dishes can not be fully transplanted. 54232

Keywords: functional equivalence; translation; Chinese cuisine; unjustified

摘要随着国际交流越来越频繁，许多外国人来中国旅游品尝美食。为了方便外国人了解中国美食，中国政府最近专门出版了《中文菜单英文译法》以规范中国菜单的翻译。本文将从文化角度对运用功能对等理论翻译中国菜名提出批评。通过研读大量实例，本文作者认为运用功能对等论于中国菜名翻译并不完全适用,因为中国菜单中包含的许多中国文化的成分很可能在移植的过程中丢失。

毕业论文关键词：功能对等论；翻译；中餐菜单；不适用

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. Feasibility of Functional Equivalence in Chinese Menu Translation 2

4. Imperfection in Functional Equivalence of Chinese Menu Translation 5

4.1 Loss of Chinese Connotation 6

4.2 Loss of Chinese Regional Culture 7

4.3 Value Conflict 8

5. Conclusion 10

Works Cited 11

1. Introduction

In Chinese culture, Chinese cuisine is an important part. Many people from home and abroad are willing to taste the delicious Chinese food. Chinese cuisine is not only delicious, but also has special meaning in each name which can express Chinese culture in some way. The persity of methods and materials of Chinese cuisine determines the variety of Chinese cuisine names. However, the variety of Chinese cuisine names has led to chaos in the translation of Chinese menu. So it is necessary to set rules for the translation of Chinese menu. To conclude translation method we need to understand the characteristic and naming method of Chinese cuisine in order to achieve the accuracy of translation of Chinese menu and make it easily accessible to foreigners. However, there has been a blank in the criterion of Chinese cuisine translation for a long time. Therefore, the Foreign Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality has organized the compilation and publication of the book Enjoy Culinary Delights: A Chinese Menu in English (Beijingshi Renminzhengfu Waishibangongshi 2011:196). It is intended that this book will help to avoid the ridiculous translation like Husband and Wife’s Lung Slice(夫妻肺片)which is reported in the CNN news in 2007.

With the frequent communication between Chinese and other countries, many scholars do different researches about translation of Chinese cuisine from different perspectives, among which is some researches on the translation of Chinese menu from the perspective of functional equivalence. And most people consider applying the functional equivalence theory to Chinese menu translation is quite suitable. The author of this thesis has a different opinion. She asserts that the adaption of functional equivalence to Chinese menu translation should be pided into two kinds of circumstances. Some Chinese menus are suitable from the perspective of functional equivalence while others are not.